This invention is directed to a new and improved apparatus for dispensing plastic fastener attachment devices.
Over the last few years there has developed a large and expanding business involving the use of plastic fastener attachment devices for coupling layers of material together.
Examples of such fastener attachment devices of the prior art may be found by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,103,666, 3,380,122 and 3,399,432 among many others.
In the above U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666, it may be seen that the fastener attachment devices are each supported by an assembly rod via a neck portion, and are indexed one at a time into the dispensing apparatus.
In the indexing apparatus the fastener attachment devices are separated from the neck portion and assembly rod and are thereafter dispensed from the apparatus via a needle.
In addition some systems have been placed on the market in which the fastener attachment devices are placed in a dispensing apparatus one at a time and then dispensed to re-couple a button to fabric.
While the fastener attachment apparatus discussed above have gained wide public acceptance particularly with consumers who have used the fstener attachment devices for recoupling buttons to garments as well as certain industries e.g., the retail establishments which have used the fastener attachment devices for ticket tagging, a need has been recognized particularly in the highly automated industries for a new and improved fastener attachment apparatus for dispensing fastener attach devices.
In particular a utility has been recognized for the present invention in the garment industry where continuous relatively high speed operation is a requirement.
Additionally, for consumer applications this invention provides advantages over the prior art in that there is provided a convenient storage for the stock and in addition the remaining unused stock need not be removed from the apparatus as with the prior art for easy storage of the device.
In view of the foregoing this invention provides a completely new and improved fastener attachment system which is not only applicable to high speed industrial applications but also provides for substantial practical advantages even in slow speed retail and consumer applications. With the apparatus of this invention long lengths of plastic stock may be fed from storage means containing a roll or other compressed configuration and separated or divided to provide a plurality of dispensable fastener attachment devices.
Thereafter the devices are dispensed to hold layers of material together such as a button to cloth or two layers of fabric together.